David Hollowell’s work exhibits clearly his exacting technique, a kind of Pointillism and photorealism, and his concern with illusion and the nature of pictorial space. Among the many impressive and different facets of this body of work is Hollowell’s three-pronged treatment of a single image. By executing a drawing, a monochrome and a painting of the same image, the artist is literally breaking his subject matter down in front of our eyes. It is clear that Hollowell is not merely showing us his process; on the contrary, the artist is desperate not to prompt any narrative between the three, rather to make the viewer ponder the dilemmas that the artist is working through. Is there a hierarchy between the three treatments? Is one better than another? Does one medium clearly work better than another? These questions are Hollowell’s concerns, and are what motivates the artist to go through the agonizing process of exacting the same image three times over.
In the words of Wayne Theibaud, an admirer of the artist’s work, “David Hollowell’s work is pretty spectactular. The thing I admire in his work is its ambition, the interesting problems he sets for himself. He takes on really complex painterly issues.” Hollowell is self-described as “too bull-headed” to take short cuts while working, and this steadfast dedication is evident in the complex and engaging experience his paintings create for their viewers.
David Hollowell received his masters in painting at Yale University and is presently Professor of Art at the University of California, Davis. He has won the Westaf Drawing Award and a painting fellowship from the Roswell Museum. He has also won many other awards and has shown at numerous museums throughout the country.
“La Galleria” || 10′ x 20′ || oil on board || 1985
